Red Sky in the Morning
by jandl
Summary: Red sky at night, a sailor's delight. Red sky in the morning, a Doctor and Rose warning. A 10th Doctor and Rose adventure. Slight spoilers for The Satan Pit.
1. Worst Case Scenario

**Fandom**: Doctor Who 

**Characters**: The Doctor (10), Rose Tyler

**Rating**: T

**Genre**: Action/Adventure/Romance (possibly, in the future)

**A/N:** I hope this turns out okay. It started out as a random thought and then grew from there. I have no idea how long it will be, probably 4 chapters or so unless I get more ideas. I want it to be somewhat episodic.

P.S. set mid-season 2...ish

**Teaser**: First, the people disappeared…and then the sky turned red…and then the war decimated the lands…and then things got really bad.

**RED SKY IN THE MORNING**

Chapter One: Worst Case Scenario

_They rode. The Four Horsemen rode. In their wake, the children screamed, and the mothers wept. The land died, and the livestock lied down, and the Sun would not show its face. The sky turned red and the oceans cried. And space watched as the world bled. The Earth choked on the blood of its own people and the only witness to its suicide was a dreaming girl who lived outside of time. A girl whom had swallowed the whole of space and time, and could only remember its horrors in a forgotten sleep._

When Rose entered the consol room, she wasn't surprised to see that the Doctor was already there. Just the day before they had managed to escape from a set of Jaxtrathorns trying to usurp the throne of the true Mendraglian prince. If the Jaxtrathorns had succeeded, a universal war would have broken out and all planets of 2871 could have been decimated. Thankfully, the Doctor had managed to make a nuisance of himself and saved the prince, and consequently, his throne. However, before any of that had happened, they had managed to get caught by the Jaxtrathornian insurrectionists, and Rose had spent the majority of her time as a prisoner fighting for her life. When they had finally returned to the TARDIS, Rose had gone straight to bed, and had proceeded to sleep for quite sometime. She had urged the Doctor to rest as well, and if his rumpled suit was anything to go by, and the fact that his jacket was on the railing where he had left it the night before, he had not listened to her.

The man (or _alien_, she corrected to herself) in question was currently deep underneath the TARDIS consol, his sonic screwdriver in his mouth, shirtsleeves rolled up, and his hands and arms deeply embedded in the wiring. He was humming a familiar tune and apparently hadn't noticed her entrance.

"I never took you for a Lea Salonga fan," Rose said, giggling slightly and announcing her presence.

The Doctor sat up quickly, hitting his head on the grills of the floor above him and letting out a mild curse. Rose stuck out a hand to help him up, and when he was standing, he placed a hand to his forehead and winced slightly. "Ouch," he muttered.

Rose just laughed at him and the Doctor couldn't help but pout slightly. "Well, it hurt!" he exclaimed defensively. "The only thing that's whacked my head as hard as that grating was your mum's slap. My skin is very fragile, you know!"

"Yeah, yeah. You and your poor, little face with fleshy cheeks," Rose said, putting on a baby voice and pulling on his cheeks.

"Rose, can you stop pulling on my cheeks? My face is going numb."

She released his cheeks and sat down on the tiny couch, propping her feet up on the consol. "Really though…you were singing Lea Salonga," she said, her tongue sticking out her teeth in the way that usually meant she was about to take the mickey out of him.

"Yeah, so?"

"Isn't that a little…I don't know. Girly?"

"She happens to be quite talented, you know. And for your information, although her rendition is the best, she's not the only person to have sung that song."

"True, but I never took you for a unrequited love ballad kind of guy. You're more of a punker in my mind."

"That doesn't mean I can't listen to some good show tunes now and again. And Les Miserables happens to be a classic, I'll have you know. Why, it remains popular even unto 6798 when Broadway tunes are banned. They make a special exception for Les Miserables because, by that time, they have forgotten it's not true history, and the people of 6798 were real sticklers for their history. Wanted to know everything, they did. They never could grasp the fact that history is written by the people who win the wars and is entirely subjective."

"It's not so much that you were singing Les Miserables, Doctor, but that you were singing 'On my Own.' I mean, that's a girl's song, right? I always figured you'd sing the revolutionary song."

"Oh, I would, but 'On my Own' is the best song in the world when you see it done in the theatre. Whoever plays Eponine has to have a strong voice and a lot of passion to do that role. It's quite a sight to see. Especially on the 30th year anniversary performance."

"Who plays Eponine then?"

"No idea," the Doctor admitted, pulling on his ear sheepishly. "But, I can tell you this. The show was so popular on New York's Broadway that it ran for 6 years non stop--all the way from 2015 to 2021--every night, sold out."

"That really does sound quite amazing," Rose admitted.

"Hey, we should go? What do you say? Broadway, New York in 2017?"

Rose thought it over for a minute. It would be nice not to have to spend the day running for her life. And she had never seen a high profile show on stage before. And New York would be a great place to do some shopping. She was decided.

"I'm in. Definitely."

"Great. Just give me a few minutes to set the coordinates and we'll be there."

Rose stood still for a minute as an odd feeling of foreboding washed over her. Flashes from her dream the night before ripped through her head.

_A blood red sky. Screaming all around her. The four horseman riding, leaving creation devastated in their wake. All the children, gone with the mothers weeping. And an emptiness like she'd never known._

Rose shook off the feeling as the Doctor started yelling at her to pull this lever and press that button. By the time they had landed the TARDIS, Rose had convinced herself that what she had felt had been nothing but a chill.

* * *

"You're going to love this, Rose. Seriously. The sets are amazing. I mean, it's supposed to look like France in the 1800's and the architecture is to die for. And you've worn outfits like their costumes before, so you know how amazing those are," the Doctor chatted, pulling his overcoat on.

"Not _too_ amazing, Doctor. They're not comfortable at all. Corsets crush the ribs and those long skirts are hell to walk in, I'll have you know. You should try wearing a costume like it one day."

"The people are peasants. They don't have to wear corsets, Rose. And I would never wear a corset, it'd do nothing for my…figure." The Doctor was barely able to finish his sentence as he stepped out of the TARDIS. Rose followed suit behind him, and felt her legs collapse at what she saw.

The world they came to was most definitely not New York. It couldn't be. The city looked deserted, and for good reason. The buildings were dilapidated--most were barely standing, and what had to have once been majestic skyscrapers were reduced to heaps of rubble. There was a stench of death in the air; not the copper scent of blood that the Doctor and Rose were all too acquainted with, but the smell of rotting flesh and decaying skin. There was no grass or trees; there was only dirt and clay. The wind was blowing around them in a cold breeze and swirling the dead dust around their feet.

But what really caught Rose's eye was the sky. It was red. As far as her eye could see, there were no clouds, and no trace of blue or of stars. Just red. It wasn't even the comforting red of a sunset or a sunrise. It was the colour of blood. And then Rose noticed something even more disturbing.

"Doctor, where's the Sun?"

The Doctor looked up as well. His eyes scanned the heavens, and Rose was not able to find any comfort in his expression as he looked back to her.

"It's _gone_. From the looks of it, completely wiped out."

"Then, what's causing the red sky? Was there a nuclear war or something?"

"It wasn't a war. The TARDIS could get no trace of radiation. Whatever caused this, it was atmospheric."

"Well, where are we? I mean, it's not New York, at least not as early as 2017. So, where and when are we?"

The Doctor glanced at his watch, something that she had noticed his past incarnation do almost habitually, but a habit that this Doctor had never showed before now.

"Oh, it's much worse than a wrong place or time, Rose. Much, much worse. The real problem is we're _exactly_ where we're supposed to be."

Maybe what she had felt in the TARDIS had been more than a chill after all.


	2. Left Behind

**A/N**: Thanks to everyone who reviewed the first chapter! I was a little worried as to how this story would be received, given that I've never tried anything like this before, and it was a great relief to have such great support from everyone. Thanks! 

**Dedicated to**: InuFan4Life for her constant encouragement, both in writing and just in general. And also because she's the only person I know who would be able to tell what the inspiration was for this story just by reading it.

**Inspired by**: Doctor Who (duh), Billy Joel's song "Miami 2017 (Seen the Lights Go Out on Broadway), and the Book of Revelation.

**Disclaimer**: The plot is mine. Everything else isn't. Although, I am working on building my own TARDIS…and I have a Doctor tied up in my closet.

**CHAPTER 2: LEFT BEHIND**

'_One of these days, I will learn not to try to take Rose to any shows. We never quite seem to get there_,' the Doctor thought to himself. The Doctor didn't often admit to being scared, but he thought that maybe this time he would say he was terrified. Most of the time, destruction to the timeline was fairly obvious, but this time…he had no answers to what was going on, and even if he did have answers, he wasn't sure that he would want them. Whatever the answers were, they weren't good. Part of him wanted to walk back into the TARDIS and pretend he'd never set foot in this time period. But, as usual, he knew that wasn't a valid option. Instead he took a deep breath, and did the next best thing.

"So, Rose, want to look around?" he suggested, his voice portraying a lightness that he definitely didn't feel.

"Sure," Rose answered, her voice sounding dazed and her eyes wide in a disbelieving gaze.

The Doctor took her hand and gave it a comforting squeeze, although inwardly, it was just as much for his comfort as hers. With the silence and vastness of the deserted city it was entirely too easy to feel completely alone. Rose stepped closer to him, leaning on his arm and he interlaced their fingers as they started to walk down what must have once been a busy street. Rose repressed a shiver as the wind blew around them endlessly with a ominous roar. She did everything she could not to look up at the blood-red sky, and tucked her face into the Doctor's arm. She breathed in his scent, hoping it would rid her nose of the omnipresent smell of death. The Doctor gripped her hand tighter in response and briefly placed his face into her hair in the same attempt, briefly kissing the top of her head before resuming his pace up the street.

He stopped suddenly, and the sound of the rock that Rose's foot kicked when she tripped echoed through the dead winds. "What's wrong, Doctor?"

"Did you hear that?" the Doctor asked, his head turning back in forth in an effort to catch the sound that had briefly passed his ears.

"I'm sorry I wasn't blessed with sensitive hearing like you were, Doctor," Rose said, in an effort to break the unease this place had brought in by implementing playful banter.

The Doctor played along. "Who said it had anything to do with my heightened senses?"

"Well, it can't be the satellite dish ears this time. You lost those with the regeneration."

"_Oi_! What are you trying to say?"

Rose's response was cut off by the fact that she was knocked to the ground by a hurtling figure that pinned her to the dusty road and proceeded to snarl and claw at her. Rose was so taken aback that it took her a few seconds to realise what the figure was. It was a little girl, no more than 6 years old. Her hair was stringy and her clothes exceptionally primitive and her nails and teeth were sharp on Rose's skin.

"Doctor, help me!" Rose screamed, trying to pull the girl's hands off her arm and keep the girl from biting her at the same time. She wasn't succeeding very well.

The Doctor was trying, but having difficulty due to the girl's erratic movements and the fact that she was having little to no trouble biting him as well. More than once, the Doctor was forced to remove his hands from around the girl's waist in order to shake his hand free of the pain.

Suddenly, they heard a woman's voice pierce the air. "Nora!" Immediately, the girl backed off and ran towards the voice. Rose stood up, grabbing the Doctors proffered hand. "What in the _bloody hell_ was that?" Rose asked, wincing slightly at the pain in her back.

"Nora, I believe," the Doctor said, his voice taking on the haughty tone it got whenever Rose didn't know an answer that the Doctor thought she should.

"And who the bloody hell is Nora?" Rose asked indignantly.

"That would be my daughter," the previously mentioned voice said. The Doctor and Rose turned, and there, standing a few feet away from them, was a woman, her clothing tattered and torn, and her skin seriously dirty, pale, and injured by an obvious age of just trying to survive. She had what looked to be dirty blonde hair (or had been when she had been able to wash it), and deep blue eyes. Rose glanced at Nora, who was standing right beside the woman, calm and serene, and noted that Nora was a spitting image of her mother.

"And who are you?" the Doctor asked, not unkindly, but forcefully.

The woman seemed to pause a moment, as if in serious thought. "Marcia," she finally answered. "I'm sorry. It's been so long since I've used my name. I'd almost forgotten it. I'm sorry about my daughter. We don't often see people alive. She probably thought you were monsters."

"She could have just asked," Rose muttered, feeling sorry for Marcia and Nora, but being attacked didn't sit quite well with her either.

"Actually, she couldn't. My daughter wasn't talking yet when this happened. She hasn't grown up around speech. I myself rarely speak. There's no one really to say anything to." For the first time, the Doctor noted the obvious raspiness of the woman's voice, a sure sign of disuse.

"What _did_ happen here?" the Doctor asked, his voice giving off an intensity that Rose knew meant business.

"Where have you been, under a rock?" Marcia asked, her voice portraying her anger and disbelief that the Doctor could be so ignorant.

"Let's just say I've been traveling."

"You would still know what's going on! The whole world looks like this! Everywhere," Marcia said, her voice breaking and tears starting to come. "You're one of _Them_, aren't you? You're here to take my daughter. Well, you're not having her!"

Marcia jumped at the Doctor suddenly, forcefully trying to take him to the ground. However, he simply did a move that Rose couldn't begin to describe and when he had her at bay, assured her, "Marcia, you have to believe us. We just got here and we're going to help you the best way we can. But you have to tell us what happened. Everything." As he said this, he stared deeply into Marcia's eyes, his strong, yet thin arms holding her at bay. Whatever she saw there seemed to placate her, and she stood down, nodding her head and breathing deeply. Rose didn't have to ask what had convinced Marcia to calm down. The Doctor's deep brown eyes just seemed to have that effect on people. They most definitely had that effect on her.

"I'll tell you everything," Marcia said. "But not here. It's almost time for the Gathering, and if we're here when that happens…let's just say, you don't want to see what They will do. Come, follow me. I'll show you where to hide."

The Doctor took Rose's hand once again and they followed after Marcia, who had Nora's hand safely inside of hers, as the two women led them down side alleys off the main street.

"You okay?" the Doctor asked Rose. She nodded in affirmation.

"What was that move you did on Marcia, Doctor? I've never seen anything like it," Rose said. Rose had been with the Doctor for over two years now, and she had never seen him use any real hand-to-hand. He always used the sonic screwdriver. She had to admit that she was slightly impressed. Her Doctor definitely had some moves.

"Just a little bit of Venusian Aikido. I haven't had to use it in years. I try not to advertise alien martial arts. Came in useful this time though."

Rose could do little more than smile briefly at him in admiration. "Could you teach me some?" she asked, causing the Doctor to smile briefly at her.

"Depends. You won't use it on me, will you?"

"Depends. You won't be a pompous git, will you?"

"Probably will."

"Then I'll probably use it on you."

"Then I won't teach it to you."

"Wanker."

"You wound me with your words!"

Their banter was cut short by Marcia holding up her hand, signaling silence. She pointed deftly to her right, and walked over to a trash dumpster, her feet falling so softly upon the dust that nay a sound could be heard. She moved the dumpster out of the way to reveal a small hatchway in what had to have once been an apartment complex, but was now no more than a fallen piece of rubble.

She signaled them all in, Nora entering first, and then the Doctor and Rose following. Marcia moved the trashcan in front of the hidden hatchway and then proceeded to close the hatch. The Doctor and Rose found themselves in what looked to be little more than a hovel. The room was derelict and bare, with a little bit of mold growing on the walls and what looked to be little beds made out of straw. Rose couldn't help but feel that she had stepped backwards into the Dark Ages.

"We must whisper now," Marcia warned them. "It's time for the daily Gathering and while we're relatively safe, there are no guarantees. Any sound could tip them off."

"What happened here? What's the Gathering?" Rose asked, suddenly thinking of her mother away in England and wondering if she was still there. The Doctor seemed to sense Rose's shift in thoughts and grabbed her hand again, sitting down on the floor and dragging Rose down with him, where she proceeded to lean slightly against his shoulder, taking what little comfort from him that she could.

"It all happened 7 years ago. It was just a normal day. And then…they were gone. All of them, just gone. Hundreds of thousands of people disappeared in seconds. All the children--not a one left behind. The only reason Nora is here is because I was still pregnant with her at the time. But, all my friends lost their children. My husband Dave--Nora's father--was gone. The adults seemed to have been picked at random.

"After the disappearances, things just got worse. That's when it happened." Marcia stopped and couldn't seem to form words for the horrors that came after the disappearances.

"What happened, Marcia?" the Doctor pressed. "What happened next?"

Marcia looked down at the floor, as though she was seeing it all happen again in the footprints left behind in the dust and hay. When she looked up again, she looked as tired and worn as the Doctor and Rose had seen her yet. She started to sob, and the Doctor knew without asking that this would be the first time she had really spoken about the terrors she had seen.

"_It_ happened. The apocalypse."

TBC…


	3. Surviving the Aftermath

**A/N**: Thanks again to all my reviewers! I still can't believe that you all seem to be enjoying my little story, strange as it is. Also, apologies on the lateness of this chapter. I intend to update this story on Thursdays, and the last two Thursdays have been hectic to say the least…all that Thanksgiving stuff, and all the celebratory church services proceeding that. Oi! Happy Belated Turkey Population Control Day to my fellow Americans, and Happy Thursday to everyone else! 

**Disclaimer**: Marcia and Nora are mine. No one else is, although if the BBC wants to give me the Doctor (9 or 10), I will be more than willing to accept him. Right now, I'll just have to settle for my Doctor blowup doll (joking!)

**CHAPTER 3: SURVIVING THE AFTERMATH**

"What do you mean by apocalypse?" Rose asked, gripping the Doctor's hand tighter in a rush of fear that she couldn't explain.

Marcia looked at Rose like she was an idiot. Which, Rose reminded herself, Marcia probably thought she was. "What do you mean, what do I mean? I mean _the apocalypse_. As in the _end of the world_. As in the Book of Revelations fire and brimstone, hell on earth destruction. Who are you that you don't know all this?"

"I'm Rose Tyler. He's the Doctor," Rose introduced, noticing that the Doctor seemed lost in his own thoughts.

"You said hundreds of thousands," the Doctor muttered quietly.

"What?" asked Marcia, her head snapping from Rose to the Doctor, confusion evident in her voice.

"You said hundreds of thousands disappeared instantaneously, correct?"

"Yes," Marcia affirmed, nodding her head vigorously.

"So, what happened to everyone else? I mean, there are over six million people in New York City alone. Where did everybody go?"

"Was apocalypse not clear enough for the both of you?" Marcia asked incredulously. "I don't know how else to explain it."

"You can explain it by giving more details," the Doctor stressed. "The people disappeared, then what happened?"

"Well, the President was one of the ones who vanished so we had to elect a new leader. And then, everything happened so fast. A famine hit the entire world. There was no food anywhere. We lost so many people to starvation and that was with rationing and everything. And then, the wars started. The Middle East was nuked back to the Stone Ages, and then an earthquake hit the fault line in California. It took the whole west coast into the Pacific, all the way to the state of Texas. Tsunamis hit all of Asia, decimated them. And New York…oh god." Marcia broke down then, and the Doctor rose from the floor, dropping Rose's hand and dropping to a crouch in front of Marcia's weeping form. He gripped Marcia's shoulders in a comforting gesture and gently lifted her chin until she was staring him in the eyes.

"What happened to New York?" the Doctor prodded, his voice gentle and sympathizing.

"Depends on the part. They burned down Harlem, the Bronx got blown to high heaven during the firebombing of the war, and Manhattan was bombed so bad that it sank into the Atlantic. Then, there was the period where the heat got so bad that the Atlantic Ocean literally evaporated within the coarse of the month. Manhattan got flattened after that. You're currently residing in what's left of Queens, and the only reason that's still here is because They need a place to collect for the Gathering."

"Who's this _They_? And what's the Gathering?" Rose asked, glancing nervously at Nora, who seemed to be staring at Rose with an indiscernible expression.

"_They_ are the ones who put us in this hell. They have no names. But They work for the Anti-Christ. I guess you might call them demons. The Gathering is how They feed. There's only a few of us left. They find us in our hiding places and when They do, They…"Marcia seemed unable to finish. "Let's just say that after you've seen what They do, you're thankful you don't eat much anymore."

"That bad, huh?" Rose questioned weakly.

"Worse even."

"You called the leader the Anti-Christ. Why do you think he's the Anti-Christ?"

"I was raised Catholic, Doctor, although I never really believed until 7 years ago. My husband was a true believer. I know the scriptures. This is the Book of Revelations come to pass. The believers Raptured, the rest left behind to suffer. Oh God, we deserved this…"

"Marcia listen to me, this is a lie. This is not the coming to pass that's mentioned in the Bible. Whoever's doing this is _not_ the Anti-Christ, and your husband and those other people were _not_ Raptured. This is _not_ the Second Coming."

"How do you know that, Doctor?" Rose asked.

"Oh, whoever these beings are, they're clever."

"What do you mean?" Rose asked, rising to her feet and the Doctor following her action. She met him in the middle of the room, where they proceeded to talk in quieter tones.

"They know enough of your world's holy book to fool the locals, but they're nowhere near clever enough to fool me!"

"Yes, yes, I know how great you are. Get on with it!"

"Can't you see how brilliant the idea is? You take a generally accepted belief and play it close enough to the chest that no one knows you're lying to them. The famine, the earthquake, the lack of a Sun, the devastating war, the people disappearing--it all adds up to the Book of Revelations--I bet there was even a deadly epidemic. Wasn't there, Marcia?" he asked, whipping around to face Marcia, who was still sitting on the floor, Nora's head now in her lap.

"Yes, there was. Mainly in South America. Killed at least 5 million," Marcia confirmed, her face staring up at Rose and the Doctor in something akin to wonder.

"Ha! See, I'm _brilliant_! However, as sneaky as these beings are, they made a few fatal errors."

"Such as?" Rose asked, getting slightly excited, like she always did whenever the Doctor got close to figuring out an impossible mystery.

"One, it's been seven years. The Anti-Christ's reign should be over by now. Two, by bombing the Middle East to high heaven, they inadvertently made it impossible for the Witnesses to appear next to the Wailing Wall. Three, nowhere has Marcia mentioned that the leader of the world has died and risen again, which is one of the signs that will mark the Anti-Christ, at least as far as Revelations says. Has he risen again, Marcia?"

"No. Although, it would be hard to publicize if he did. What with there being no televisions and all."

"Oh, he would find a way to publicize it all right…He wants people to believe in him, after all."

"So, what do we do, Doctor?" Rose asked, ready to step into another adventure and get out of this time period.

"Nothing for now. Something tells me we don't want to go out during the Gathering. At least not until the next one so that we can already be hidden by the time it starts. I don't want to risk getting caught out and about, especially with you around, Miss Jeopardy Friendly."

"Oi! I'll have you know that those times you're referring to are more your fault than mine!" Rose rebutted.

"I suggest you get some sleep," Marcia suggested, placing her now sleeping daughter on a bundle of hay next to the wall. "If we're awake much longer, you'll hear sounds you don't want to hear."

"What kind of sounds?" the Doctor inquired.

"Screams," Marcia answered shortly, climbing onto a patch of hay next to her daughter. Although, from the broken sound of her voice, the Doctor guessed that the "_screams_" were probably a whole lot more than just that.

Rose lay down on some hay on the opposite wall from Marcia and Nora and the Doctor sat up next to her, his back against the mold infested wall.

"Doctor, I have a confession to make," Rose said quietly some time later, trying desperately not to wake the woman and the child who were looking more at peace than ever before on the opposite side of the room.

"Yes, Rose?"

"I dreamed about this. I didn't know what it was, but last night, I had a dream about four men on horses."

"The Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse," the Doctor clarified.

"Oh, is that what they were called? I suppose that's who they were. They left the world devastated in their wake, and the children were screaming and the mothers were crying. I never felt more cold in my life. The world felt so…empty."

"I would say it was just a dream, but we both know I'd be lying," the Doctor said, softly stroking Rose's hair to try and lull her to sleep. "But, you should sleep for now."

"Doctor, do you think my Mum's still alive? Is England even still there?"

"I don't know," the Doctor admitted. "But, if England's there, I think your Mum still is. I think she'll outlive me, and I have 13 lives!"

"Shut it, you," Rose threw back, hitting him playfully on his thigh, though thankful for his joking.

"Seriously, I don't know. But, we have hope, and where there's hope, there's life. As soon as we sort this out, I'll take you to see her, how does that sound?"

"Thank you." Rose was quiet for a few more moments. "Doctor?"

"Yes, Rose?"

"We've now met Satan, and it looks like we're going to meet the equivalent of his right hand man soon…"

"Yeah," the Doctor prompted, sensing she had a point, and yet, not quite grasping what it was.

"Well…if there is one, do you think we might ever meet God? I mean, Satan exists, so God must exist too, right?"

"I don't know, Rose. If He does exist, I have a few words to say to Him when I meet Him. Now, go to sleep. You'll need it."

The Doctor continued to stroke Rose's hair as she drifted off, lost in thought of the possibility of meeting God. He stayed awake the whole night, long after he grasped what Marcia meant by "screams." The only sound accompanying him through the dark was the tortured wailing of a hopeless soul.


	4. The Four Horsemen

**A/N**: Once again, thanks to all my reviewers! I'm sorry that I didn't update last week. I was kind of out for the entire day with InuFan4Life and didn't get home until early hours on Friday, and then I really didn't feel much like writing yesterday. But, I'm game for it now, so it's a week and day late, but ya'll don't hate me…right? 

**To T'Kirr**: I'm glad you like the story so much. It's not so much that the Doctor is more believing of God and Satan in this story than he is in the Satan Pit, but it's more that he accepts that in Earth's terms, it's an accepted idea. And he also knows that the best way to get Marcia to help is to speak in terms that she would understand. I'm glad that you're enjoying it and that my Doctor seems very believable to you. I was a little bit worried at first about writing him…he's just so…Doctor-ish. Hard to get the brain around.

Also, want to encourage people to download the inspiration for this fic--Miami 2017 (Seen the Lights Go Out on Broadway) by Billy Joel. Or any song by Billy Joel really. He rules my soul. Anyway, on to the fic, and please review--insults or compliments well accepted!

**CHAPTER 3: The Four Horsemen**

_The Four Horsemen rode across the lands. There was the sound of a crack from beyond the skies and the First Horseman opened his mouth. He was astride a white horse, and from his mouth and the mouth of the horse came forth a black cloud bearing the dying screams of thousands. He had with him a bow, and wherever the arrow flew, death followed. Every arrow was a conquest of war and every target the arrow stroke was a nation falling to its knees._

_There was a second crack and the red horse and its rider contributed to the black plague that was swallowing the Earth whole. His weapon was a sword, and with every swing he decapitated the leaders and smote the innocent._

_With the third crack, the black horse and its rider joined the fray. In his hands he held a balance, and wherever that balance tilted, the people fell. Unlike the quick deaths of the nations and people before them, their deaths were slow, hollowing them from the inside out until they were pleading with the other Horsemen to end their agony._

_With the fourth and final crack, the pale horse and Death itself raged war upon mankind. Wherever his horse's hooves trod, fire stormed in its wake. Whenever Death breathed, the world trembled. Whatever he looked at worshipped him and did his bidding. The ground beneath him died and from that soil nothing would grow again. Wherever he whispered, war was beget. Wherever he spoke, Hell rose up from Sheole and made itself alive upon the ground._

_And Death looked upon the sky and whispered words of damnation to all present and all those to come. And lo, the Sun ceased to shine and the world was covered in a blood red sky, and when darkness was due, the moon offered no luminance. The Four Horsemen disappeared, and left behind a world that refused to turn. Laughter had turned to screams, which in turn had leant itself to blissful silence. But, that silence had a weight, and that weight was growing. And as the silence grew, so did the stench of death, and the view of destruction, and the feeling of loneliness. It was pressing down, stronger than gravity. It was suffocating, drowning. Harder and harder it pressed, thicker and thicker the air became, stronger and stronger the stench, uglier and uglier the carnage, emptier and emptier the feeling…_

"Rose…Rose!" came the Doctor's voice, slowly but surely waking Rose from her terrible vision. She shook herself awake and, without thinking, launched herself into the Doctor's arms. She took five deep breaths, the feeling of being suffocated still all-too-fresh in her mind, and allowed his familiar embrace to comfort her in whatever small way it could.

"Hey, hey, hey," he said, his voice cajoling her softly, "it was just a dream." He pulled away from her and looked her gently in the eyes, his brown orbs trying vainly to comfort her brown. "See? I'm here and Marcia and Nora are here. All a dream, yeah?"

"That's just it, Doctor. It wasn't. It was much more than that. I could _feel _it all. Their hatred for this world, Their love of destruction--I was Them. I wanted what They wanted. Remember how you felt when you saw the Daleks?"

The Doctor frowned. He definitely remembered. It was beyond hatred, what he felt for them. It was beyond vengeance. It went beyond your basic 'crush-kill-destroy.' He remembered wanting to watch them suffer. He wanted to torture them. To put an electric conducting device to their pepper pot bodies and listen to them scream. He wanted to hear them beg for mercy and then refuse to give it to them.

"Yeah, I remember," he said softly, a tiny bit of that ever present anger at the Daleks coming through in those three, short words.

"It was ten times worse than that. It was almost apathetic. They don't want to _rule_ the world, They don't want to be the master rulers or species. They just want to destroy. It's the only thing They love. And Their ruler won't be happy until every tiny scrap of this world is gone and is suffering. And that's not the worst part."

"It gets better?" the Doctor asked.

"He can make them suffer forever. I don't know how, I don't even really understand the dream or want to talk about it in detail, but…this kind of suffering doesn't end. Ever. The people who died at the beginning of this seven years ago…somehow, they're _still_ suffering. Doctor, we have to help them."

"We will, Rose. We will. But first, I need you to explain your dream to me in detail. Leave nothing out."

"I _can't_."

"Well, you have to."

"Doctor, please don't ask me to do this. It wasn't just pictures, they were feelings and I don't know if I can go through it again. It _hurts_ to remember."

The Doctor paused, weighing his options. Rose clearly wasn't up to talking about what had happened in her dream, but it was something that he simply had to know. She was crying slightly now and holding her aching head in her hands. He hated to push her, but the only other way was to get inside her head, and he really didn't want to do that. It was a very intimate thing to do to another person, and sometimes you saw things that either you don't want to know or that _they_ don't want you to know. And as Reinette had taught him, a door once opened goes both ways. He wasn't too sure he wanted Rose to know some of the fantasies--er, _thoughts_--that went through his head at times.

Still, it was the only way to get the information he needed. Surely, Rose would respect his privacy, wouldn't she?

"There is one other way," he announced, his hesitancy very apparent in his voice.

"What's that?"

"I could look inside your head. I won't look at anything but the dream, I promise. Or, at least, I'll _try_ not to look at anything but the dream."

"Do it," Rose answered without hesitation.

"You're not worried about me looking through your head?"

"I trust you. Plus, anything in my head is open game for you, Doctor. But, that being said, I expect you to behave yourself in there," she warned, playfully sticking her tongue through her teeth and waving a finger at him.

He answered her cheeky smile with one of his own and placed a long-fingered hand on each side of face. They closed their eyes and leaned a little closer together, him in concentration and her to keep herself from getting a stiff neck. If someone were to spot them, it would almost look as though they were about to kiss, and had certain things transpired, it might have been awkward when they opened their eyes.

The Doctor probed through her mind, finding a black mass in the forefront of her memories and, given that the rest of her mind was giving this space a wide birth, he deduced that this must be her nightmare. He gently prodded at it with his mind and found himself settling down in it. However, he found himself being unable to penetrate its black depths. Normally, he would settle into a dream or memory and be able to view it, almost like watching a programme on the telly. But, this cloud not only proved to be opaque, but instead of letting him settle into it like a comfy couch, it proved to bounce him off like a trampoline. Numerous times he tried to penetrate it, to make the cloud break, but each time he was rebuffed and thrown back. He finally ran into it, like a P.C. breaking down a door, and found himself catapulted out of her head. He was aware only of the fact that his head was throbbing and pulsing, and that he and another voice that he belatedly classified as Rose's, was screaming. No sooner had he catalogued this data, that the whole world went black.

* * *

The Doctor awoke to a blinding pain in his temples and the feeling of blood rushing down his forehead. His lip also stung and he could taste the copper taste of blood on his tongue. It was then that he realized he had bitten his lip. He opened his eyes, and through his blurry vision, figured out that whatever Rose had dreamed, had deemed him off limits. So off limits in fact, that it threw him across the room. Rose was unconscious on the other side of the room, and he couldn't help but notice that he couldn't seem to move his legs. He felt completely numb, except for his head, which was pounding at the indignation of being thrown against the wall at the speed of 9.8 m/s squared.

A few seconds later, he noticed that the screaming he was hearing was no longer his own, but was that of Marcia and Nora, who were fighting against a figure that was presently trying to drag them out of the hovel.

"Doctor, help me please!" Marcia screamed, trying to kick the figure holding her, and at the same time, trying to placate her daughter, who was currently biting the hand of the figure pulling her headfirst through the hatchway.

The Doctor tried to stand up, but his leg wouldn't even twitch. He tried to move his arm to grab his sonic screwdriver, but his muscles wouldn't even tense. He could do nothing but watch dumbly as Marcia and Nora were pulled screaming and crying into the desolate New York streets.

The Doctor was left with an unconscious Rose and could do nothing but think. Why hadn't the figures wanted him or Rose? They would have been easy targets. Unless, They could only use humans…that would explain why They didn't want him. But still, that left the question of Rose. Unless They were coming to get her later maybe?

And how had They known where to find the four of them? As soon as the Doctor asked himself that question, he knew the answer. They had made too much noise. Obviously, his and Rose's screaming hadn't only occurred in their minds. Rassilon, this was all his fault. Marcia and Nora would be sacrificed at the Gathering, and he had been the cause of it.

The Doctor closed his eyes in shame. He never should have looked inside Rose's head. Some brilliant alien he was turning out to be. He should have been able to figure it out without Rose's dreams. He had gotten his two new friends killed, and for what? He hadn't even been able to extract any information from Rose's mind. He really was getting old.

He opened his eyes again and panicked. The space where Rose had been lying a mere few seconds before was now empty. _She was_ _gone_.

* * *

**A/N**: Well, there's the last part. Sorry about leaving it with a cliffy. Only about two or three more chapters left. Some points to make about this chapter. The "Crush-kill-destroy" is a reference to another sci-fi series that came on in the US in the sixties called "Lost in Space." (Love that series…good movie too). And there were also some brief references to the Series 2 episode "The Girl in the Fireplace." 


End file.
